Warning: Potential Spoilers throughout for anybody who hasn't see any of the MCU films up to date, read any of/all the related story arcs or seen any of the trailers/pre release for Civil War.
Captain America: Winter Soldier left us in a very open place. Bucky was on the loose, S.H.I.E.L.D was allbut destroyed and from the outlook it seemed HYDRA had won. The devistation left after the destruction of the headquarters and the helicarriers did not go unnoticed by the general population and then up stepped Ultron. We all know what happened in AOU and with a new team of Avengers, new heroes and a city sized crater left in Eastern Europe the re-introuduction of General Ross (or some kind of Government power) was inevitable.
Now for some hopes, dreams and mostly speculation.
Black Panther v Bucky
From trailers and pre release material it seems evident that early in the movie there is an attack from Crossbones on a government rally. T'Chaka is potentially killed and up steps T'Challa to the Blank Panther mantle to exact revenge on Bucky, who it appears may have been framed or wrongly accused of such. The prospect of this fight is making me salavate becasue even from the trailer we can see how good a set up it wiill be. Vibranium in BP's suit vs Bucky's arm, the way BP out runs Cap who was just as good a match for the Winter Soldier in Cap 2, the fact that both of them are highly skilled in combat. This fight could be incredible. Here's hoping they took a few notes from watching Daredevil Season 1 and translated that into a confrontation that will have us glued to the screen.
Cap/Iron Man Dialogue
Hang on a second, I know you're thinking why is grem excited about dialogue but the chemsitry between RDJ and Evans is off the charts. "Sometimes I want to punch you in your perfect teeth" phwoar what a line, I sincerely hope there is A LOT more of this.
The conflict in opinion first arose in Avengers Assemble, the argument between them and Banner over the hacking of the archives, that just tempted us with what could potentally come in the future and then again in AOU whilst chopping the wood at Barton's farm, Cap just tearing that log in half out of frustration at Stark, one of the first times we saw Cap actually lash out. Cap is famous for his morals, he tried to keep his emotions in tune but Stark just brings this out of him and I know he is calm and collected 99% of the time but I want to see this emerge, maybe in the final scenes where they fight? Maybe an earlier conflict after Bucky attempts to assassinate Stark.
As much as everyone else I want to see
that speech from Cap and Chris Evans' delivery will undoubtedly be perfect. The "you move" scene is so iconic in the Civil War arc and I pray that the Russo's managed to implement this somewhere in the story line and ever since I frst read they were adapting Civil War I hope this didnt get cut. YES I know it's said to Spider-man in the comics and YES I know that Tom Holland only has a small part to play, but with his introduction during the fight scene, why not in the after math? Maybe something happens mid fight to cause an interaction? We can only hope it comes into play. Maybe he says it to Black Panther after it being annouced he takes the Spidey element of the story. Needless to say I will be on the edge of my seat waiting.
Deaths
Okay so we know somebody is going to die in this film, it has been annouced that a major player dies prior to release so naturally we all are asking who? (Also note that I said deaths not death because I believe there will be more than one, but continue reading and you'll see why)
I have narrowed it down to 3 candidates who are going to get the chop and before the flaming starts just remember this is my opinion only, I accept I may be wrong.
1. Rhodey
I reckon Rhodey is the strongest candidate when it comes to death, especially after what we have seen happens to him in the trailer, the way Stark is holding him and so emotionally too. He is out cold, fell from (I can only assume) quite high and unless the War Machine armour is padded inside he would have hit the ground pretty hard. Not only this but his death could be a stepping stone to Stark flipping out and seaking revenge on Cap, sparking him maybe revenge killing someone else? Seaking out Cap directly for revenge? Only time will tell but this leads me nicely into my next candidate.
2. Bucky
We have all seen the image of Bucky lying in the backroom missing an arm, how he loses this we have no idea yet but there is only a few people with the strength/capabilities to do so one of whom being Iron Man. We know there is a 2 on 1 fight between Cap, Buck and Iron Man and I expect Bucky gets eliminated quite quickly from this leaving it to be a mano et mano between the two main protagonists. Bucky's death would pave way for Cap to step down from being a superhero, maybe he will succumb and register with General Ross' plan, or maybe he will just go completely off the rails and fight Iron Man to his final breath but whichever outcome it is, the fight between the 3 of these heroes will be the stepping stone to one of these outcomes.
Another route to Bucky's demise could be the revelation that he was directly involved in the deaths or Mr and Mrs Stark. We know how Tony feels about his parents after Iron Man 2 and what was revealed when he watched the archives so potentially it could just be all out warfare between the pair.
3. Cap
I can't do an article on deaths in Civil War without overlooking the death of Steve Rogers. Of course we all know that at the end of Civil War Cap gets assassinated, I'm not going to touch on what happens with him in the story hereafter, but I am interested in potentially who could kill him and why.
Brock Rumlow - The HYDRA sleeper agent turned Crossbones already knows who Captain America is under the uniform, he worked closely with him at S.H.I.E.L.D and has numerous reasons to exact revenge on him, namely his disfigurment at the end of Winter Soldier thanks to the Helicarrier pummelling into his face.
Agent 13 - Sharon Carter delivers the final blow in the comics under Red Skulls' influence. Alas we know Red Skull is AWOL in the MCU but who's to say that another villain may take that role. Potentially Baron Zemo? At this point his role in the film is under wraps, we know so far that is he cast and that is pretty much it. Daniel Bruhl has been very tight lipped on his involvement in the film and in all honesty I am just as excited to see what he brings to the role as I am with Chadwick Boseman to BP.
Iron Man - Yes I'm going out on a whim here, but providing Bucky dies who's to say that Stark doesn't go full psycho and take the ultimate option in killing Steve. This is massive stretch but anything is possible in the MCU and the shock factor on the audience would be so great that I can see it happening.
The New(er) Avenger
After the dust had settled from AOU we saw the new Avengers line up. Cap, Black Widow, Vision, War Machine, Falcon and Scarlet Witch. Not a team I would like to come face to face with at any given time but I know this will not be the line up after Civil War, even if there is one.
Ant Man is the biggest (literally) addition to the team. His fan boy love for Captain America obviously has forced his allegiance with him and character wise he is my most anticipated hero for where he could go in the future. Ant-Man was one of my favourite films of the last phase and Scott Lang was definitely the right choice over Hank Pym. That extra element of being an ex con and his wit being yet another element to add to the dynamics of the team. Also how the back story plays into the choices he and Pym made leading up to this show a good foundation for the future. We all know he will turn into Giant Man in the film (thank you LEGO and Funko) and this alone could look incredible on screen, I just hope it is done right.
Spidey
Spidey is such a massive introduction the MCU, it seems only fitting to introduce him in such a massive film. Tom Holland is such an incredible casting that we are going to completely forget the minefield that was Amazing Spiderman 1 & 2 and concentrate on what is to come.
Casting young was imperative to sticking to the source material and with his inexperience as a hero and his boyish wit I can see his on screen relationships with all of the cast potentially being the biggest treat of all. Spider-man is and always has been the cheeky chappy of the Avengers, I am most looking forward to him and Scott Lang having a one to one becasue those two in a room together can only end with hilarity.
All in all Civil War is only weeks away and at the moment all the hype is with Batman vs Superman (rightly so) but I still cannot hide my excitement for this film. A film I have waited for for a very long time and one I hope delivers on every count. The Russo Bros. are the right people to tackle this iconic story line and they proved their worth with The Winter Soldier.
There will be shocks in this film, things that none of us could have predicted. Stepping stones to the rest of the Phase, maybe a death we have all over looked? A teaser that none of us expected? But that's what mkes good cinema. That's why we go to watch these movies. We love the thrill of the unexpected.
I have been counting down everyday in the hope that April 29th comes soon and the TV spots will begin to emerge shortly, showing snippets here and there of new footage, hopefully nothing too big because there I some stuff I want to be surprised by.
In summary this has all the potential to be the best Marvel CBM to date, the expectations are high and I speak for every Marvel and CBM fan a like in saying I CANNOT WAIT.
TL;DR - Civil War looks awesome.